EMEA Investments Driving Technology Specialization


Government programs across Europe and the UK are seeing a surge of investments in leading edge technology, materials, and packaging. Industry and academia are coalescing around specialty areas, drawing on established relationships to foster innovation and fill gaps in regional supply chains while also maintaining international bonds. Government initiatives also are picking up in Israel, Saudi A... » read more

Chip Industry Technical Paper Roundup: Oct. 14


New technical papers recently added to Semiconductor Engineering’s library: [table id=367 /] More Reading Chip Industry Week In Review AI CPU chiplet platform; Intel-AMD pact; GDDR7 DRAM; AI-RFIC funding; CHIPS Act awards; NoC tiling; thermal modeling on chiplets; $900M nuclear tech and more. Technical Paper Library home » read more

High-NA EUV Lithography: Enhancing Resolution By Split Pupil Exposure (Fraunhofer, ASML)


A new technical paper titled "Resolution enhancement for high-numerical aperture extreme ultraviolet lithography by split pupil exposures: a modeling perspective" was published by researchers at Fraunhofer IISB and ASML. The open source paper published on SPIE states: "The lithographic imaging performance of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography is limited by the efficiency of light diffrac... » read more

Government Chip Funding Spreads Globally


This is the first in a series of articles tracking government chip investments. See part two for Americas-focused funding and part three for the UK and EMEA, and part four for Asia. Countries around the world are ramping up investments into their semiconductor industries as part of new or existing approaches. The increased government activity stems from growing awareness of the strategic imp... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


Concerns mount on the use of American-manufactured semiconductors in Russian weapons, with Analog Devices, AMD, Intel and TI set to testify next week before the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Also, U.S. and other government agencies issued a joint advisory and more details about ongoing Russian military cyberattacks, espionage, and sabotage. The U.S. Commerce Departmen... » read more

Chip Industry Week in Review


Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology proposed a new EUV litho technology using only four reflective mirrors and a new method of illumination optics that it claims will use 1/10 the power and cost half as much as existing EUV technology from ASML. Applied Materials may not receive expected U.S. funding to build a $4 billion research facility in Sunnyvale, CA, due to internal government... » read more

Key Technologies To Extend EUV To 14 Angstroms


The top three foundries plan to implement high-NA EUV lithography as early as 2025 for the 18 angstrom generation, but the replacement of single exposure high-NA (0.55) over double patterning with standard EUV (NA = 0.33) depends on whether it provides better results at a reasonable cost per wafer. So far, 2024 has been a banner year for high-numerical aperture EUV lithography. Intel Foundry... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


Early version due to U.S. holiday. The U.S. government announced a new $504 million funding round for 12 Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs (Tech Hubs) for semiconductors, clean energy, biotechnology, AI, quantum computing, and more. Among the recipients: NY SMART I-Corridor Tech Hub (New York): $40 million for semiconductor manufacturing; Headwaters Hub (Montana): $41 million f... » read more

Single Vs. Multi-Patterning Advancements For EUV


As semiconductor devices become more complex, so do the methods for patterning them. Ever-smaller features at each new node require continuous advancements in photolithography techniques and technologies. While the basic lithography process hasn’t changed since the founding of the industry — exposing light through a reticle onto a prepared silicon wafer — the techniques and technology ... » read more

3D Metrology Meets Its Match In 3D Chips And Packages


The pace of innovation in 3D device structures and packages is accelerating rapidly, driving the need for precise measurement and control of feature height to ensure these devices are reliable and perform as expected throughout their lifetimes. Expansion along the z axis is already well underway. One need look no further than the staircase-like 3D NAND stacks that rise like skyscrapers to p... » read more

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